REVIEW: Superman, #43

[CBR News]

"Superman" #43 gives us the reason for Lois Lane outing Clark Kent, but Gene Luen Yang, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson and Scott Hanna's story feels so predictable that there's little surprise or drama involved.


Full review here.

[friendly-fire-press]

That's disappointing. Maybe they should move Pak over to Superman when Yang finishes his run, and let Kuder handle both writing and art on Action Comics?

[manofsteel1979]

That's disappointing. Maybe they should move Pak over to Superman when Yang finishes his run, and let Kuder handle both writing and art on Action Comics?

I could get behind that. However, I'd still like to see Pak still at least co-plot ACTION with Kuder, if only to have 3 out of the 4 Superman titles under Pak's perview. One thing Superman has needed for the last decade is a strong singular creative voice steering the ship for a few years. Truth be told, we haven't had that since Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly's turn on SUPERMAN and ACTION ended in the early 2000's. Pak has shown that he gets Superman and his voice right and if I were editor of the line, I'd have Pak and Kuder take over the entire line and get out of their way.

Yet, I say give Yang a little longer. He hasn't been as good as the hype was leading us to believe. true,but he's pretty good with dialogue, characterization and basic plot/ideas. His issue is pacing and execution. I think that's largely because he's never written 22 page floppies until now. He's really green in that regard and I suspect strongly that once this whole arc is collected it will read better, but yeah he has some work to do.

That's why I wish that instead of forcing this status quo upheaval mandate from on high, editorial had given all the teams at least a year of going off on their own and build up a stronger foundation and stable status quo (which, let's be frank, New 52/DC YOU Superman really doesn't have a stable baseline other than Morrison's run and some of Pak's stories) before doing this arc. It would have given Yang more time to cut his teeth on Superman, get a handle on things, and go from there.

[DochaDocha]

I don't know whose idea "Truth" was, but I'd like to think Yang's run on Superman would've gotten off to a better start if he didn't have to start with this particular story.

[Tayswift]

That's disappointing. Maybe they should move Pak over to Superman when Yang finishes his run, and let Kuder handle both writing and art on Action Comics?

this would make me sure to not write superman.

Sure yang could do better if wasn't for editorial mandates, he is a award winner.

[Prime]

I could get behind that. However, I'd still like to see Pak still at least co-plot ACTION with Kuder, if only to have 3 out of the 4 Superman titles under Pak's perview. One thing Superman has needed for the last decade is a strong singular creative voice steering the ship for a few years. Truth be told, we haven't had that since Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly's turn on SUPERMAN and ACTION ended in the early 2000's. Pak has shown that he gets Superman and his voice right and if I were editor of the line, I'd have Pak and Kuder take over the entire line and get out of their way.

Yet, I say give Yang a little longer. He hasn't been as good as the hype was leading us to believe. true,but he's pretty good with dialogue, characterization and basic plot/ideas. His issue is pacing and execution. I think that's largely because he's never written 22 page floppies until now. He's really green in that regard and I suspect strongly that once this whole arc is collected it will read better, but yeah he has some work to do.

That's why I wish that instead of forcing this status quo upheaval mandate from on high, editorial had given all the teams at least a year of going off on their own and build up a stronger foundation and stable status quo (which, let's be frank, New 52/DC YOU Superman really doesn't have a stable baseline other than Morrison's run and some of Pak's stories) before doing this arc. It would have given Yang more time to cut his teeth on Superman, get a handle on things, and go from there.

I think is just suffering from the "Crossover event" stick. He should have his own arc just like Pak to stretch his legs. Who knows? He might do good. But yeah, Pak should be given the keys to the Superman line.

[Mart]

this would make me sure to not write superman.

Hmm, do you mean it would make you not read the Superman book? Or not send letters?

[friendly-fire-press]

I could get behind that. However, I'd still like to see Pak still at least co-plot ACTION with Kuder, if only to have 3 out of the 4 Superman titles under Pak's perview. One thing Superman has needed for the last decade is a strong singular creative voice steering the ship for a few years. Truth be told, we haven't had that since Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly's turn on SUPERMAN and ACTION ended in the early 2000's. Pak has shown that he gets Superman and his voice right and if I were editor of the line, I'd have Pak and Kuder take over the entire line and get out of their way.

Yet, I say give Yang a little longer. He hasn't been as good as the hype was leading us to believe. true,but he's pretty good with dialogue, characterization and basic plot/ideas. His issue is pacing and execution. I think that's largely because he's never written 22 page floppies until now. He's really green in that regard and I suspect strongly that once this whole arc is collected it will read better, but yeah he has some work to do.

That's why I wish that instead of forcing this status quo upheaval mandate from on high, editorial had given all the teams at least a year of going off on their own and build up a stronger foundation and stable status quo (which, let's be frank, New 52/DC YOU Superman really doesn't have a stable baseline other than Morrison's run and some of Pak's stories) before doing this arc. It would have given Yang more time to cut his teeth on Superman, get a handle on things, and go from there.

Yeah. I'm keen to see where he goes from here. I'm just assuming, since Yang has only signed on for 12 issues, that the creative team will be changing before long anyway ... therefore I thought I'd put my 2 cents in (I'm still a bit peeved that Geoff Johns left so soon, I would've liked to see him write another couple of arcs ... and I think he and JR Jr worked well together)

this would make me sure to not write superman.

Sure yang could do better if wasn't for editorial mandates, he is a award winner.

I'm not completely sure what you mean with your first statement. It's a bit vague.

As for your second statement, I'm not aware of just how constricting the "editorial mandates" are but even if they are tricky, I'd argue that a writer should still be able to work with whatever tools he or she has been given regardless. I'm aware that Yang is a good writer (I've stated such once or twice elsewhere) and an award winner but in all fairness (pardon the cynicism) it still doesn't necessarily guarantee a blockbuster Superman story.

[Tayswift]

Hmm, do you mean it would make you not read the Superman book? Or not send letters?

sure read, DC doesn't has the letters section anymore. I might want to have some fun on sex criminals letters section

[Tayswift]

I'm not completely sure what you mean with your first statement. It's a bit vague.

As for your second statement, I'm not aware of just how constricting the "editorial mandates" are but even if they are tricky, I'd argue that a writer should still be able to work with whatever tools he or she has been given regardless. I'm aware that Yang is a good writer (I've stated such once or twice elsewhere) and an award winner but in all fairness (pardon the cynicism) it still doesn't necessarily guarantee a blockbuster Superman story.

I meant read, not write.

Some editorial mandates makes really hard the job of the writer, specially when it is his first time writing for corporate comics, and the story he was telling we already knew what will happen.
this was a big recipe for failure. Nick spencer did some meh books on marvel, but his superior foes was incredible because there was little interference.
Gene just won the award that had big names like kelly sue, fraction, morrison, etc. he is not the problem here

[friendly-fire-press]

I meant read, not write.

Ah. Well that's a bit clearer then. Fair enough. To each their own. It would obviously have the opposite effect on me (I'd love seeing Kuder take on both writing and artwork on Action Comics, even if it's just a one shot for the next annual ... but that's me)

Some editorial mandates makes really hard the job of the writer, specially when it is his first time writing for corporate comics, and the story he was telling we already knew what will happen.
this was a big recipe for failure. Nick spencer did some meh books on marvel, but his superior foes was incredible because there was little interference.
Gene just won the award that had big names like kelly sue, fraction, morrison, etc. he is not the problem here

Yeah. Some editorial mandates make things a bit tricky. Then again, Pak and Tomasi seem to be managing just fine.

I like Gene Yang. He is a good writer. (I'm just keeping options open here) And it's a great accomplishment to win an award. That achievement should never be ignored ... Having said that, Awards shouldn't necessarily be perceived as the Be All and End All ... ie Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson each won Oscars for 'Best Director' yet Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles never did. Awards are great but they don't necessarily mean everything.